"literature" blog posts
Watch the second Annual Seamus Heaney Lecture
On Thursday 18 November 2021 the Institute of Irish Studies welcomed Professor Roy Foster (Emeritus Professor of Irish History, University of Oxford, and author of On Seamus Heaney) to deliver the second Annual Seamus Heaney Lecture
Posted on: 17 December 2021
Historian and journalist Dan Finn talks to the Institute of Irish Studies
Dan Finn is an Irish historian and journalist who works as features editor for Jacobin magazine. He joined Maev McDaid from the Institute of Irish Studies to talk about his book and reflect on some of the ideas around commemoration and national identity. You can watch the full video below and comment your thoughts on the discussion on Twitter: @irishinstitute.
Posted on: 15 September 2020
The Letters of John McGahern and the Undergraduate Research Scheme
The Undergraduate Research Scheme gave students Lauren Price and Richard Snowden-Leak the opportunity to work closely for a two week period with Professor Frank Shovlin of the Institute of Irish Studies on his major project, The Letters of John McGahern, providing them with a more intimate insight into one of Ireland’s most important literary figures.
Posted on: 23 July 2020
Everything You Need to Know About Irish Studies
Hello, my name is Beth and I am a Third Year Irish Studies student at the University of Liverpool. I wanted to provide an insight as to what it is like to study Irish Studies at the University of Liverpool, and hopefully answer any queries you may have regarding the course.
Posted on: 9 June 2020
Culture and COVID: an interview with Eva O’Connor
Earlier this month the Institute of Irish Studies launched Culture Unconfined, an online festival of film, drama, music and poetry. Culture is an important facet in the study of Ireland and the Institute remains committed to supporting and promoting the voices of Irish artists, especially during these unprecedented times. Last week, Maev McDaid from the Institute of Irish Studies caught up with Eva O’Connor, an emerging writer-performer from Ogonnelloe County Clare with a string of accolades to her bow, about life as an artist under COVID.
Posted on: 29 May 2020
Watch the Inaugural Seamus Heaney Lecture
On Thursday 17 October 2019 the Institute of Irish Studies welcomed Professor Louise Richardson (Vice-Chancellor, University of Oxford) to deliver the inaugural Seamus Heaney Lecture. The event was introduced with a recital of Seamus Heaney's poetry by Adrian Dunbar (actor, screenwriter and director).
Posted on: 31 October 2019
'The Singer's House' by Seamus Heaney - Poetry Day Ireland
In this video, Prof Frank Shovlin explains his close connection to 'The Singer's House' by Seamus Heaney and reads this wistful poem for Poetry Day Ireland.
Posted on: 2 May 2019
Searching for Gerard Keenan
Kavanagh’s Weekly is arguably the closest literary approximation to a barroom brawl ever put to print. When I first saw the name of Gerard Keenan in its pages, the feeling was akin to the sensation of the corner-eye-sighting of a reflection in a dusty mirror.
Posted on: 10 July 2018
Oklahoma, James Joyce and 'The Book of Days'
16 June is Bloomsday, celebrating 16 June 1904, the date depicted in James Joyce’s novel, 'Ulysses'. PhD student, Liss Farrell is researching the brother relationship in James Joyce’s 'Finnegans Wake'. Interested in the interplay between Joyce’s real-life relationship with his brother Stanislaus and the Wake, Liss travelled to the University of Tulsa in Oklahoma to read his diary: ‘The Book of Days’.
Posted on: 14 June 2018
Irish writer, John Boyne, talks about his new novel 'The Heart's Invisible Furies'
What better way to get inspired about literature during your studies, than to get up close with a New York Times best-selling writer!
Posted on: 21 February 2017